Friends,
I'm still in shock from learning about this act of official oppression against an 87-year-old elder, Lidia Martinez, who belongs to LULAC, the civil rights organization to which I have been a longtime member—and where I currently serve as its Education Committee chair. It is disgusting and horrifying to learn that her house was raided by police officers under the auspices of Attorney General Ken Paxton's "Election Integrity Unit." This is double-speak. So Orwellian. Up is down and down is up as in George Orwell's, 1984.
It turns out that all she was doing was her civic duty of inquiring about seniors with whom she had spoken about them not getting mail-in ballots.
This is a larger story of official oppression and voter intimidation that involves numerous individuals, including Cecilia Castellano, a democratic party candidate that you can learn about in an August 24 story in the Texas Tribune.
For those that have access to computers, to get your mail-in ballot, you do have to qualify, but you can get it if you need it. Read and follow these instructions on how to apply for a ballot by mail out of Jane Nelson's Secretary of State office.
I'm glad that State Director Gabriel Rosales and LULAC are calling on the Department of Justice for an investigation into voter intimidation. Also, see my earlier post that provides more information.
Elections matter, my friends. We need leadership with actual integrity rather than offices that use it as a prop.
-Angela Valenzuela
An 87-year-old Texas woman who complained about local seniors not being sent mail-in ballots had her house raided by officers for the state's election integrity unit.
The New York Times reported that Lidia Martinez, a retired educator who lives in San Antonio, was shocked last week when officers came to her house at 6 a.m. and informed her that they were searching her residence because she had filed a complaint about residents in her area getting their mail-in ballots.
Martinez says she's spent decades volunteering with the League of United Latin American Citizens to help seniors in the Latino community register themselves to vote.
"“I go to a lot of senior events; I explain to them what they have to do,” she told the Times. “I’ve been involved in politics all of my life.”
The officers at her house asked to see the voter registration cards that she had collected. After informing them that she didn't have them at her house, they proceeded to search the property and left with her laptop, her phone and some documents.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defended the raid as part of an election integrity investigation.
However, leaders with LULAC are demanding answers to what they say is a baseless raid on Martinez and other members of their organization.
In fact, notes the Times, LULAC is asking the United States Department of Justice to intervene and conduct a civil rights probe into the Texas government's actions.
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